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ERIC Number: ED510110
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-May-15
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Pronouns in Akebu
Koffi, Yao
Online Submission
(Purpose) The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed description of the pronouns in Akebu. Akebu is a language spoken in South-West Togo and in the neighboring towns in Ghana. Akebu belongs to a group of languages formerly called "Togo Remnant Languages", now (Ghana Togo Mountains, GTM). The native Akebu speakers call their language "kee-kpee-re-ke" or "ke-kpee-ke", and their land "e-kpee-ke" or "gbee-ken-de", or "gbee-ken-de", themselves "e-kpee-fe" or "kpee-fi-ye". (Methodology) The article is based on previous research works on Akebu (Storch & Koffi, 2000; Koffi 1981, 1984, 1998; Heine 1968; Wolf 1907) which include a typological study of Akebu, an Akebu-German dictionary, the itinerary of loanwords in Akebu. Due to few published materials on Akebu, the article shows a comparative analysis of the pronouns in Akebu with similar works on pronouns in Fongbe(Lefebvre, Claire & Brousseau, Anne-Marie 2002), in Ewe (Bole, Remy-Richard 1983; Essegbey, James 1999, Westermann, Diedrich 1943, 1947, 1949; Pasch, Helma 1995); Twi (Christaller, rev. J. G. 1875; Dolphyne, Florence Abena 1988). Through examples from Akebu, Ewe, Fongbe, Twi, the article describes the different aspects of the pronouns in Akebu and establishes the similarities or demarcations with the above mentioned languages which are in the frame of the comparative analysis. The article is organized as follows: an Inventory of the pronouns in Akebu, Subject pronouns, Object pronoun, Possessive pronoun, Reflexive pronouns, Indefinitive pronouns, Demonstrative pronouns, Relative pronouns, Wh- words and Wh-phrases, Imperative, Request forms, Logophorics. (Results) Akebu has for every pronoun a range of morphological appearances which agree with the gender and the number. Agreement plays an important role in the building of pronouns in Akebu. The logophoric pronouns in Akebu refer to the person whose thoughts, words, feelings are reported. (Conclusion) Alike Ewe, Twi, Fongbe, tones have a grammatical function. In Akebu a preposition and a postposition of the Possessives are possible. Reflexive forms are built not only by pronouns but also by particles composed of subject, verb, body/self. For expressing a question utterance, Akebu disposes of various particles expressing the identification, property and time specifications. (Recommendation) The article contributes to know Akebu better at the linguistic or socio-linguistic level because Akebu is a minority language spoken by roughly 55,000 people, there is still a lot to be studied on Akebu, the article is a further reference which is useful for researchers in language typology, language families and language contact in Africa. (Additional data) (Contains references).
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Africa; Ghana; Togo
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A